In vitro regeneration of sainfoin (Onobrychis sativa) via shoot apex explant

The growing demand for animal products has made importance of the utilization of biotechnological techniques in improvement of forage crops such as sainfoin. In this research, the effects of different levels of auxin (NAA and IBA) and cytokinin (BAP, Zeatin and TDZ) on in vitro growth response of shoot apex explants of Shahrkord and Khansar cultivars of sainfoin were investigated. For this, shoot apex explants were prepared from 4-7 days old seedling grown and cultured on solidified MS medium containing different levels of auxin and cytokinin. The results indicated that the percentage of multiple shoots, number of shoots per explants and shoot length were significantly influenced by cultivar, plant growth regulators combination and its interaction. The percentage of multiple shoots and number of shoots per explants were varied from 0 to 89.7% and 1 to 5.03, respectively. Generally, the percentage of callus induction, multiple shoots and number of shoots per explant in the Khansar cultivar was significantly higher than those of Shahrkord cultivar. The highest percentage of shoots (98.15%), multiple shoots (89.17%) and number of shoots per explant (4.3) were obtained in the Khansar cultivar with MS medium containing 0.1 mgL-1 IBA and 3 mgL-1 BAP. Root induction and appropriate growth of roots were observed on MS medium without plant growth regulators. These results are highly valuable for in vitro culture and micropropagation of sainfoin as well as in breeding programs and transformation of this plant.